Before the economic crisis of 1997, East Asian
nations were generally accelerating at an impressive pace in developing their
economy. What started with Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea were being emulated
in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Each year, the countries recorded impressive
growth rates and were attracting huge numbers of foreign investment. However
the economic liberalism did not go hand in hand with political democratization.
Leaders such as Lee Kuan Yew, Le Peng, Jiang Zemin and Dr. Mahathir Mohammad
defended political authoritarianism jealously, claiming that a move towards
Western liberal democracy would harm the so-called Asian values'.
What are the Asian Values as defined by these leaders? Asian Values are a set
of values that they view unique to `Asia' - by Asia they do not mean the geographical
expression from Kamchatka in the East to Asia Minor in the West, but generally
confined to the Eastern and South-East part. These values include stressing
the importance of the community at the expense of the individual; stability,
order and harmony over personal freedoms; a belief that the line between business
and government need not be so distinct; obedience to authority and a strong
family unit.

This seemed to confirm Thomas Paine's observation
in 1776 - that Asia had long `expelled freedom'. In Common Sense, he wrote,
"Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled
her. Europe regards her as a stranger and England hath given her warning to
depart." During those times, East Asia - the Orient, was a place that was
far away, mystical and mysterious to the Westerners. Way before
the word `Asian Tigers' came into place, people in the West were intrigued by
the legacy of the Islamic, Chinese and Indian civilizations in these far-away
places. This was because prior to Europe's Renaissance, Asia was the leading
continent. Dr. Mahathir wrote in The Voice of Asia, together with Shintaro Ishihara,
"In
Europe's Dark Ages, Asian civilisation was quite advanced, and industrialised
too... In many aspects, the wave of civilisation spread to the West from the
wellsprings of the East."

However when the European nations sought to colonise
the Orient, they viewed Asian values as a justification for their colonisation
to carry out their la mission civilsatrice. The last British Governor of Hong
Kong, Christopher Patten remarked in East and West, "The `white man's burden'
was made all heavier by alleged
Asian reluctance to get involved in their own affairs. ...Some of this attitude
coloured official British attitudes to Hong Kong until quite late in the days
of our sovereign responsibility there."

When the Cold War broke up after Japan was driven
from the Orient, several emerging governments took advantage of the West's ideological
struggle with Communism to have them supporting their authoritarian regimes.
Suharto for example, was able to drive Sukarno from power with American support.
Singapore became a well-known ally of the United States, while to protect Taiwan
from China, American money flowed freely into the island, making it one of the
most developed economies in the region, apart from Japan. Some Asian leaders
seek to align the so-called Asian values with religious and philosophical ideals.
However examining the great
teachings in Asia - Islam, Buddhism and Confucianism, we can see that many of
their teachings corresponds to modern notions of liberty and democracy.

Islam for example, has always advocated a democratic
political system. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did not name his successor, because
he wanted the people to choose their leader. The four righteous caliphs carried
on this tradition, and even when elected caliphs were replaced with dynastic
ones - modern ideals of the
separation of state, the rule of law, etc - were embodied by Islamic governments.
Rose Wilder Lane, in her book Islam and the Discovery of Freedom suggested that
Europeans learnt a fair deal of freedom from
the Muslims.

Buddhism also places a great importance on the
freedom of thought. As a tradition, it allows a lot of room for volition and
free choice. Confucius himself also did not ask for a blind loyalty to the state.
When Zilu asked him on how to serve a prince, Confucius replied, "Tell
him the truth even if it offends him." Elias Canetti
said that in interpreting the teachings of Confucius, we have to examine not
only what he says, but what he does not say - known as `the silence of Confucius.'

Then we have `the half-naked seditious fakir',
in the words of a British Governor of India; Mahatma Gandhi. His satyagraha
became an inspiration to other civil rights leaders throughout the world - such
as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. Civil disobedience, which included
demonstrations and peaceful protests, had its roots in Asia.

Thus history would bear witness that Asia itself
is not a stranger to democracy, just as Europe is no stranger to tyranny. Asian
values for many Asian politicians, is a justification for authoritarianism (or
in Sukarno's words, `guided democracy), cronyism, nepotism and non-accountability
in economic management. It must of course be accepted that the world is not
a single cultural entity, but a diverse one. The East differs from the West,
but it also should be noted that many parts of the East differ with each other.
Amartya K. Sen stressed in his book Development and Freedom, that Asia is a
melting-pot of cultures, religions and traditions that to
spell out the existence of homogenous 'Asian Values' common to all cultures
is a big mistake. As this article has illustrated in great detail, Islam, Buddhism,
Christianity, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism and all sorts of
shamanism and animist cultures and traditions blend in Asia.

Nevertheless, how different the world is, it
does not mean that certain governments should be grossly less democratic than
other governments, or that basic human rights in Asia should not be the same
as in Europe.
True enough, part of the high rate of economic growth experienced by the region
was because the so-called `Asian values'. This growth was fueled by a low-cost
export driven industrialiasation, coupled with an environment not receptive
to unionism. Most of the countries totally ignored environmental and
welfare aspects - for the sake of economic growth, unlike in the West (as far
as the 20th century). Nevertheless, the businesses align themselves closely
with the ruling elite - thus contributing to rampant corruption and scandals,
what is known as `Crony Capitalism'. The only reason economic growth managed
to transpire despite all the impropriety was because the cost of production
was so low, ensuring that Asia maintained an edge to compete globally.

The economic downturn signaled an end to many
of the Asian dictators. While previously the people got some of the riches while
the leaders and their associates were creating even more wealth for themselves
- now to safeguard the interests of businesses, wealth had to be piped into
their coffers at the people's expense. Suharto took a tumbling in Indonesia,
while Kuomintang, which had been in power for so long in Taiwan lost in the
elections. Only the pre-crisis regimes in Malaysia and Singapore remained -
but as far as Malaysia
is concerned, the ruling party was no longer the force it used to be. Sic temper
tyrannis - thus always the fate of tyranny. Says Anthony Milner from the Faculty
of Asian Studies, Australian National University, "By the end of 1998,
faced by the humiliation of a far-reaching Asian financial crisis, these values
were presented as having been utterly discredited."

Democracy, social justice and basic human rights
are not confined to certain cultures or people, but are universal concepts that
appeal to the nature of the whole of mankind. These principles underline the
vision of Anwar Ibrahim's Asian Renaissance. His views now echoes the fact that
despite impressive GNP and GDP growths, the improvement in living standards
for the urban middle-class and material wealth for the people- Asians need to
also look into issues such as freedom, distribution of wealth and justice. Ideals
such as
democracy, freedom of speech and liberty are in fact important for the long
term growth of all nations - Asians or otherwise.

The underlying motive of these Asian Values rhetoric
was to justify authoritarian regimes. With the accelerating pace of globalisation
- it seems that the voices defending the so-called Asian Values would slowly
disappear. What the Japanese call gaiatsu - outside pressure, would push Asian
governments to be more
transparent, liberal and accountable to the rule of law and the basic notions
of justice; just as Asians themselves are pushing for reform. This is because
oppressive rule, corruption, lack of transparency and
unquestionable loyalty to the government are not something `Asian', but merely
opportunities for certain people only interested in power and wealth for themselves.